


Clerical Duties

by tinylilremus



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Prompt Fill, Tumblr Prompt, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 03:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinylilremus/pseuds/tinylilremus
Summary: A fill for the prompt:"It's a very hot/humid day and above blue teiflings run cold, cuddles to cool down"from hellopartypeoples on tumblr.As one of the party clerics, it's Jester's job to make sure no one dies of heatstroke and as a blue tiefling, she has the perfect strategy for preventing it. Buuuut Jester also has actual feelings for Caleb, which means that asking to cuddle him is going to be more than a little bit awkward.





	Clerical Duties

Jester watches him as he sits underneath the biggest tree in their little clearing, coat off, shirt sleeves and pant legs rolled up, trying to move as little as possible.

The rest of the party is sheltered underneath a different large tree and seem to be coping a bit better with the heat. Nott is far more prone to being too cold than being too hot and as such, seems to actually be enjoying the balmy weather. Fjord and Beau lie sprawled across the grass napping. Caduceus is working his way through a pot of tea which he assures everyone will cool them down, but no one has been brave enough to sample yet. Yasha has left them again for the moment, but Jester imagines that even if she was here, she's too cool to be bothered by anything the elements could throw at her.

Jester seems to be the only one truly not affected by the weather. In fact, the only reason she's removed her cloak and folded her sleeves back is to show solidarity with the rest of the party. Being unaffected by the heat is one of the perks of being a blue tiefling.

It's not a surprise that Caleb is struggling the most. He's from the coldest part of the continent and his skin, even through months of travelling outdoors in the sun, is still surprisingly pale. The face fuzz is definitely not helping him either. Her eyes follow the large droplets of sweat that trickle down his face into his beard while she rubs the top of her arms. The skin beneath her hands is as cold as marble.

 _You should just go offer to cool him down,_ she thinks to herself and is filled with the familiar jolt of panic that always accompanies anything that involves Caleb. Especially things that might show Caleb how she really feels about him.

Jester loves cuddling people. Nott is practically in her arms whenever Jester can get her hands on her; she frequently naps with Caduceus; and she's even held Beau while she cried out her pent-up feelings a few times. Fjord is the only one who doesn't really like cuddling at all, but she's definitely never felt panic like this at the idea of him suddenly deciding he’d like to.

Over the past few months of travel, she has grown really close to Caleb and though she would never say it out loud for fear of hurting the feelings of any of the others, he's become her best friend. They face a lot of horrible things in their adventures, but she can’t imagine anything worse than Caleb finding out how she feels and having their friendship dissolve because of it.

But he’s suffering so much and it’s not like they don’t ever hug or anything, so she tells herself that as one of two clerics (and honestly, the one better suited to the task because even if it works, Caduceus' cooling tea smells really weird), she doesn't really have a choice. She shakes her head and strides over to the wizard, who has his eyes closed to protect them from the flecks of sun shining through the branches.

"Hey, Caleb," she says, plopping down on one of the roots next to him. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, you know," says Caleb, opening an eye to look up at her, "just hunky-dory."

"This, er, heat is pretty bad, huh?" says Jester, hating that her brain is feeling so scrambled and that the words feel so weird coming out of her mouth. She doesn’t even really have the heat as an excuse.

"I... yeah. It's been pretty intense." Caleb looks up at her with a weak smile, squinting as he opens both eyes. "I was going to say something funnier there, but my brain is too hazy right now."

Jester laughs at that and immediately cringes. What he just said really wasn't that funny and she’s laughing at it as if he’s told an amazing joke like a huge idiot.

 _Way to play it cool, you big blue dork,_ she chides herself.

She lets her laughter trail off until they're once again only surrounded by the sounds of the forest and is horrified when she sees that Caleb is looking at her with a puzzled expression.

"How are _you_ feeling?" he asks. "You don't look like you're suffering as much as the rest of us."

"I don't think I am," she shrugs. "I'm a blue tiefling so I'm kind of built for weather hotter than this, you know?" To her horror, she lets out another nervous giggle. "That's actually why I came over here. Do you want to hold me?”

"I beg your pardon?" Caleb's eyes are as wide as saucers now as he sits up slightly.

"Shit, I didn't mean for it to come out as blunt as that." She can feel her soul slowly leaving her body in embarrassment. "What I mean is that my body runs pretty cold in this heat and as one of our party clerics I think it's my duty to make sure you don't die of heat exhaustion and this is the easiest way to do that. My skin is really cold so, you know, it might be able to cool you down a bit."

Caleb is still just blinking at her, dumbfounded, while her heart races along faster than she's ever seen any of their dozen horses run.

"Unless, you know, you'd rather have some of Caduceus' tea instead?"

"Oh, er, no. That would be... I mean it sounds like a solid remedy, but, er, l-let's try your way first maybe?"

"Okay," she says, getting up from her root to settle down next to Caleb on the grass. "I, er, I should sit in front of you with my back against your chest. It’ll make sure there’s as much contact as possible."

Oh gods. Why did that sound so awkward coming out of her mouth?

"Right," he says. His already flushed face is now impossibly red. "Ja, right you are."

It takes a bit of awkward manoeuvring from them both, but eventually Jester is settled down against Caleb. His chest is blazing against her back and the arms around her are like a furnace. He settles his chin on her shoulder and she realises she can’t really fight it anymore.

Hot. Caleb is hot. And not just because of the heat.

She's certainly never found him unattractive. It's just that now she feels a strange fluttering whenever he smiles at her, and she feels a constant need to be in contact with him somehow – preferably through touch (a hand on his arm, a tug at his coat, a playful flick to the head, a kiss on the cheek), but otherwise at least having him in her sight. And while his opinion has always mattered to her, lately she finds herself wondering how he'll react to almost everything she says or does.

Somehow, completely by accident, she's fallen for her best friend and it has made the last few weeks of travel a beautiful kind of torture. She’s not used to being on the back foot. She’s always aggressively chased after what she wants, but this feels too risky for that. Messing up the dynamic between her and Caleb will mess up the dynamic of the whole group and that’s enough to make her hold her tongue. Better to have Caleb as a friend than not have Caleb at all.

"Thanks for this, Blueberry," he says, using his nickname for her - the one that never fails to make her smile. "This is the most comfortable I've been on this trip so far."

"Anytime, Grumpkin," she replies with her nickname for him. "I was worried you were going to melt away if I didn't do something."

"Me as well."

Now that she's in the moment, as fast as her heart is still beating, it's a lot easier to relax and just enjoy being so close to Caleb. He certainly seems contented, entertaining Jester by commanding Frumpkin to paw Beau's nose while she naps, and then having him pretend to be cleaning himself whenever she opens her eyes to see what it is that keeps touching her face.

The thing Jester loves the most about him is his ability to just carry on. Though she doesn't know the full story, she knows that something terrible must have happened to him once, and yet he's still kind to most people he meets and still finds the energy to smile and make jokes. There's always that underlying sadness, but his ability to feel it and not drown in it mystifies Jester, who would rather not acknowledge her own sadness if it means having to actually feel it.

"Hello? Jester? Are you with us?"

Caleb has been trying to get her attention. She has no idea for how long.

"Sorry, I was thinking," she says, feeling her cheeks flush. " _Off in the Feywild_ as my mom would say. Did you ask me something?"

"Nothing important," Caleb replies. "What had you so lost in thought?"

She should lie and make something up, but something inside tugs her in the opposite direction.

"You, actually,” she says, and continues before she can lose her nerve. “I was just thinking about how good you are at feeling more than one thing at a time and still managing to carry on like normal. You're sad a lot of the time, but you still manage to smile and make everyone else smile even so. If I let myself feel sad, that's all I can feel."

To her surprise, one of the hands folded across her waist reaches for hers and gives it a gentle squeeze, not pulling away afterwards.

"Everyone deals with their emotions differently," he reassures her. "I'm not sure mine is the healthiest either. If it helps, you can let yourself feel whatever you want to feel around me. I think we're close enough for that, ja?"

Jester knows he's really actually talking about sadness and happiness, but, as a cleric who is always on the lookout for signs, this seems to be a very clear one. Maybe this will all blow up and Caleb won’t feel the same way, but The Traveller works in mysterious ways and it she knows it would be far worse to ignore a sign and live with that regret then to follow it and deal with the consequences.

She doesn't respond straight away. Instead, she threads her fingers through Caleb’s and takes a deep, steadying breath.

"I know this probably isn't what you meant by that, but if I can let myself feel whatever I'm feeling around you, you should know that I was really nervous to come over here just now."

"Why would that make you nervous?" laughs Caleb. "We spend a lot of time together and you’re a cuddler. You cuddle anything that’s still for long enough – it's nothing out of the ordinary. It was a bit out of the blue – pardon my pun – but not completely unexpected."

"I was nervous to cuddle with you, because whenever we hug or you put your arm on mine or we catch each other’s eye across the campfire, it’s difficult to remind myself that we’re just friends...” She takes another deep, steadying breath, preparing for the big plunge, “…and that even if I’m in love with you, you might not feel the same way.”

To Jester's horror, Caleb tenses and is completely silent. She's sure he's surprised and needs a moment to process everything, but seconds pass, then a minute, and he still hasn't said anything.

She knew, of course, that there was a possibility that Caleb might not feel the same, but she wasn't expecting it to hurt this much. Fighting back the tears now stinging her eyes, she pulls out of Caleb's arms and scrambles to her feet.

"Sorry for making things weird, Caleb. You’re a good friend," she mutters, staring down at a small crumpled brown leaf the ground next to her. It feels like the world is shifting under her feet and it's only the sight of this small dead bit of plant that's grounding her. "I'll see if Caduceus has anymore tea."

"Jester, wait," says Caleb, scrambling to his feet and grabbing her hand before she has the chance to walk away. "I didn't mean to react like that. You just caught me off guard."

He stands in front of her, a head taller, looking at her with an expression that's similar to others she's seen on him, but now it's deeper and more intense.

"I was also nervous when you came over because, well, if I'm honest, I'm always nervous around you. You're so witty and unique and beautiful and I honestly feel like a clown around you most of the time."

Jester is only vaguely aware of the warm hands that settle on her cheeks. The world seems to have narrowed down to the piercing blue of the eyes now staring into hers and the soft smile playing on Caleb’s lips.

"I'm not good at this," Caleb whispers. "I never have been. But if you want me to, I could try."

For what feels like the first time in her life, Jester is at a loss for words and with a small movement of her head, she nods. And then Caleb is gently kissing her forehead and pulling her into a warm embrace.

"I actually want to kiss you properly right now, but I'm very conscious of overheating," he explains.

Jester smiles into his chest.

"I would cool you right down, you know," she says and nothing has ever felt more right than being able to feel Caleb's deep answering laughter against her skin.

"Soon," he says. "I would also like for that to be something between just us and at the moment we have quite the audience."

Jester turns her head to find the group under the other tree gawking at them. Nott appears to be dabbing at the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief.

"What? I was just doing my job as a cleric," Jester shrugs, grinning back at them.

"If I knew that that was a clerical duty, I'd probably be a lot more religious," Beau retorts.

Caduceus frowns for a moment, as if trying to work out how what Jester and Caleb are doing could be construed as a clerical duty, but then his face breaks into a look of understanding.

"Ah," he laughs. "I get it."

The rest of the party laughs at that too and the weird tension that was there a moment ago seems to lift as they each go back to their various coping strategies.

Jester turns back to Caleb and she’s surprised to find he’s still just looking at her with the fondest look she thinks she’s ever been given.

"Alright," she says, somewhat breathlessly. "Later."

"Later," he agrees. "For the time being, how do you feel about a nap?"

"A nap sounds pretty great right now," says Jester. "I call big spoon."

"You can be whatever spoon you’d like if it helps me escape from this heat," Caleb laughs, adjusting a strand of hair that was tangled around her horn. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replies, pressing a kiss to his cheek before leading them to a soft-looking patch of grass. She curls around him as they lie down and she can't help but revel in how right it feels. How, as different as they are, they seem to fit together perfectly.

When Frumpkin settles down next to her, curling into her neck, she tells herself that it's because he's trying to cool down, but somehow a small part of her knows that she now has his blessing too.

**Author's Note:**

> [Feel free to send me prompts of your own!](http://tinylilemrys.tumblr.com/ask) ^_^


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